The present invention relates to a cellulose fiber lure for termites that is formed from a coherent deformable compressible mass of randomly oriented, entangled, softwood fibers; a container especially adapted to house the cellulose fiber lure; and a method for treating termites or other insects through matrix contact with a pesticide or through the ingestion or transferal of a pesticide. While the container of the present invention can be used to treat other insects with pesticides, the container of the present invention is especially well suited for housing the cellulose fiber lure of the present invention for the treatment of termites with termiticides. The cellulose fiber lure of the present invention, unlike other wood lures, which must be torn apart by the termites over an extended period of time e.g. up to two months, is especially well suited for a rapid treatment of termite colonies with a termiticide, such as a termiticide that can function through matrix contact.
Termites do more property damage in the United States than hurricanes, earthquakes and vandalism combined. In order to control termites with a toxicant (hereinafter xe2x80x9ctermiticidexe2x80x9d), termites must come in contact with the termiticide. Termites ingress and egress a food source through underground and above ground tunnel tubes which extend between a colony nest and the food source, e.g. a building. These tunnel tubes are climate controlled and impervious to termiticides sprayed on the soil and, for as long as the termites remain sealed within their tunnel tubes, the termites are protected from contact with the termiticides sprayed on the soil.
For decades, one method for controlling termites has included the saturation of the soil in a zone under and surrounding a building. To get the termiticide within the termite tunnel tubes, a trench is dug around the building. This breaks the walls of the termite tunnel tubes passing through the zone. The soil from the trench is saturated with termiticide and the trench is filled with this termiticide treated soil. As the termites repair their fractured tunnel tubes, the termites come into contact with the termiticide treated soil and the termiticide is thereby introduced into the colony.
Other methods for controlling termites involve breaking into visible, above ground termite tunnel tubes and injecting a termiticide into the tunnel tubes with a syringe or breaking into visible, above ground termite tunnel tubes and placing a device containing termiticide in the pathways of the termite tunnel tubes. A major problem encountered, when using these methods of termite control, is locating the termite tunnel tubes, which for the most part are hidden behind stucco facings, in wall voids, etc.
In addition to the above methods, there are numerous methods in commercial use for treating termite colonies with termiticides which use termite bait stations, but typically, these methods for treating termite colonies with termiticides use bait stations, such as the termite bait station of U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,571, issued Aug. 17, 1999, which incorporate toxic baits within the termite bait stations, such as slow acting toxicants and/or growth inhibitors. In another method for treating termite colonies with termiticides, the termites are enticed to form a pheromone trail to a bait station to feed on nontoxic sticks of cellulose, such as wood or cardboard. After the members of the termite colony are feeding at the bait station, the pest control technician removes the nontoxic lure and replaces the nontoxic lure with a toxic bait or leaves the nontoxic lure in place and places a toxic bait adjacent the nontoxic lure. U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,150, issued Jun. 27, 2000, discloses such a method of treating termite colonies with termiticides.
When termites ingest termiticides and die shortly after feeding at a bait station, other termites in the colony associate the death of their companions with the new food source (the bait in the bait station) and cease to feed at the bait station. In an attempt to minimize this problem, a slow acting termiticide may be used or toxic baits may be substituted or placed adjacent nontoxic lures after the termites have been feeding at the bait station for a period of time. However, slow acting toxicants can prolong the treatment period required to control the population of a termite colony and any disturbance of the bait in the bait station, through the replacement of the nontoxic lure with a toxic bait may cause the termites to stop feeding at the bait station. Even with the use of slow acting toxicants, most bait stations must be opened and the bait disturbed or removed to determine if there is any termite activity within the bait station.
Thus, there has been a need to provide a method for treating termite colonies which does not use a toxic bait in a bait container; that permits the detection of termite activity within the container of a termite treatment station with little or no disturbance of the lure and termites within the container; that permits the treatment of the termites feeding at the lure within the container with a termiticide without contaminating the lure within the container with the termiticide; and, preferably, that utilizes a termiticide which is non-repellent to termites and lethal to termites through matrix contact as well as ingestion and/or transferal. With a termiticide that functions through matrix contact, the mere contact by a termite with the termiticide initiates a chemical or biological action within the termite that is injurious or lethal to the termite without the termite ever having to ingest the termiticide.
The preferred method and the containers of the present invention accomplish all of the goals listed immediately above. Since most termite tunnel tubes enter a building or structure (hereinafter xe2x80x9cbuildingxe2x80x9d) through cracks in the foundation, expansion joints, and/or control cracks in the floor slab of the building, all of which are generally relatively inaccessible, the preferred method of the present invention utilizes a plurality of containers that each contain a nontoxic cellulose fiber lure to attract the termites to accessible locations outside of the building where a termiticide, preferably, a matrix contact termiticide, can be introduced into soil beneath the containers and the termites tunnel tubes leading from the colony to the containers to treat (control and/or exterminate) the termites.
While the containers of the present invention can be used for the treatment of other insects with various pesticides, the cellulose fiber lure and containers of the present invention are especially well suited for use in the treatment of termites with termiticides and especially well suited for use in the treatment of termites with termiticides in accordance with the preferred method of the present invention. As used herein the term xe2x80x9cpesticide(s)xe2x80x9d includes insecticides, termiticides, growth inhibitors and other such substances that are toxic and/or injurious to insects through matrix contact, ingestion or transferal and that are used to treat (control and/or exterminate) termites, ants and other such pests and the tem xe2x80x9ctermiticidesxe2x80x9d includes substances that are lethal or injurious to termites through matrix contact, ingestion and/or transferal and that are used to treat (control and/or exterminate) termites.
The cellulose fiber lure of the present invention is a coherent deformable compressible mass of randomly oriented, entangled softwood fibers that is held together by the entanglement of the fibers. Due to its coherent deformable compressible nature, the cellulose fiber lure of the present invention can be conformed to desired shapes, e.g. to hold or at least help hold the cellulose fiber lure within a container of a termite treatment station and to extend through openings in the container so that the lure makes contact with the soil (there is no air gap between the soil and the lure). Depending on the method and termiticide used to treat (control and/or exterminate) the termites at a treatment station, the cellulose fiber lure of the present invention housed in the container of a treatment station may be termiticide free or may contain a termiticide and be a bait.
The containers of the present invention may be used to hold nontoxic or pesticide free lures or toxic or pesticide impregnated bait and are adapted to be located in the ground adjacent a building to attract termites and/or other insects to the container. The container includes: a tube for containing a nontoxic lure, such as the cellulose fiber lure of the present invention, or a bait; a closure closing an upper end of the tube and, preferably, integral with the tube; an opening or openings in, at or adjacent the bottom of the tube; and an anchor or anchors for preventing easy extraction of an installed container from the ground by children, vandals, pets, or by the buoyancy of water within the ground should the ground become saturated by rain, etc.
The one or more openings in, at or adjacent the bottom of the container tube may be formed by the absence of a bottom wall on the tube and permit insects, such as termites, to have subterranean ingress and egress to and from the interior of the container to feed on a lure or bait within the container (e.g. a lure such as the nontoxic cellulose fiber lure of the present invention or a pesticide containing bait within the container). While, to prevent or minimize the escape of methane gases from within the container, it is preferred to have the openings in, at or adjacent the bottom of the container for insect ingress and egress, the container may have openings along the length of the sidewall of the container tube that permit subterranean ingress and egress to and from the interior of the container for feeding on a lure or bait within the container.
The container also has an opening in the closure closing the upper end of the container tube, which, preferably, is centered over an opening in the bottom of the container, for inserting methane measuring or optical probes into and/or through the container and a nontoxic lure or toxic bait within the container to monitor insect activity within the container. Where only a nontoxic lure is to be used within the container, the opening in the closure of the container is used to insert a pesticide injection probe, such as a tube, syringe or nozzle, down through both the container and the opening in the bottom of the container to introduce a pesticide directly into the soil beneath the container and any insect or termite tunnel tubes leading into the container through the opening(s) in the bottom of the container with little or no disturbance of the insects feeding on the nontoxic lure within the container and without introducing the pesticide into the nontoxic lure within the container where the pesticide would contaminate the nontoxic lure. The opening in the closure of the container can also be used to insert a pesticide injection probe into the container to impregnate a previously nontoxic lure within the container with pesticide to form a bait or to insert a pesticide injection probe into both the container and the soil beneath the container to impregnate a previously nontoxic lure within the container with pesticide (forming a bait) and the soil beneath the container with pesticide.
Preferably, the opening in the closure of the container is small enough to prevent children from gaining access to a lure or bait within the container after the container has been installed in the ground and is provided with a flap for sealing, opening and resealing or an adhesive tab or tabs for sealing the opening in the closure of the container to permit the container to be closed except when insect activity within the container is being monitored or pesticide is being introduced into the ground beneath the container or into the container. Preferably, the container includes a metal component, such as but not limited to a foil closure flap or foil adhesive tab for the opening in the closure of the container or a foil label, so that, when the container is partially buried in the ground and grasses or weeds grow up about the container, the location of the container can be detected with a metal detector.
In the preferred method of the present invention for treating termite colonies, the termiticide utilized to treat the termite colony is a non-repellant termiticide that is lethal or injurious to termites through matrix contact as well as through ingestion and/or transferal. With this type of termiticide, it is not necessary for the termites to feed on a toxic bait. By introducing the termiticide into the soil adjacent and preferably beneath the container, the termiticide can be introduced directly into the tunnel tubes adjacent or beneath the container through which the termites travel between the colony nest and the container thereby leaving the container free of toxicants and safe to use where children or pets might gain access to the container. When termites pass through a treated tunnel tube, through contact with the termiticide within the tunnel tube, at least a few molecules of the toxicant within the tunnel tube will adhere to each of the termites. These few molecules of the toxicant initiate a chemical or biological action within the termite that is injurious or lethal to the termite without the termite ever having to ingest the termiticide. In addition, these termites will then carry the toxicant back to the colony nest. Since termites are social insects, other termites will groom the contaminated termites and, in turn, be groomed by other termites to spread the contamination throughout the colony. In this way, the entire colony including the reproductive(s) of the termite colony and the workers feeding upon the building, are destroyed, thereby, eliminating the need to drill holes through the foundation or walls of the building to treat the termites.